Americans are as Worried as Ever About Layoffs and Losing Their Jobs. Why so Much Angst?

AI-fueled 'anxiety about layoffs and job security are still skyrocketing,' Glassdoor research finds

Are artificial intelligence and robots coming for your job? Probably not not anytime soon.

The unemployment rate is remarkably low and layoffs are also sparse, but Americans are as worried as ever about losing their jobs. What's going on?

The threat of artificial intelligence suddenly rendering jobs obsolete has exploded as the main worry among job holders, new research from the job-search site Glassdoor shows.

'Workers are concerned by leaders demanding workers use AI while simultaneously touting AI as a reason for layoffs and reduced hiring.'Glassdoor

It's not just AI, though.

The U.S. is experiencing one of the slowest rates of hiring in history, especially during a period of economic expansion. High tariffs, rising inflation and the war with Iran have pushed companies to adopt a wait-and-see approach.

Even if layoffs are low, the people who do lose their jobs have a much harder time finding a new one. Recent college graduates are also struggling to gain a foothold in the workplace.

What's more, a dearth of available jobs has made people more willing to take jobs they would have turned down in the past. The rate of job offers refused has fallen sharply over the past year, per Glassdoor's research.

"Given this slow job market, any movement - a callback, an interview and certainly an offer - is precious for job seekers," Glassdoor said.

The angst is evident in large and long-running polls of consumers. The U.S. consumer-sentiment survey fell in May to a record low, while the consumer-confidence index was also near a postpandemic low.

Humans vs. machines

Even just one year ago, most employees had positive feelings toward AI - at least among the minority of Americans who were paying attention to machine learning, Glassdoor research showed.

Now, it's risen rapidly to become the No. 1 worry among workers - more than inflation or burnout on the job. It's easy to understand why when companies such as Meta Platforms (META), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Salesforce (CRM) have announced layoffs and cited AI among the reasons.

"Workers are concerned by leaders demanding workers use AI while simultaneously touting AI as a reason for layoffs and reduced hiring," Glassdoor said.

The disconnect between employers and employees on AI has bred more distrust. Workers rated their leaders at the lowest level since Glassdoor began keeping track in 2019.

Effect on jobs

Yet by large, AI hasn't had a big impact on unemployment or layoffs.

The jobless rate stayed 4.3% in May for the third month in a row, for one thing. Indeed, unemployment has not topped 5% since 2016 except for a brief period during the pandemic. The rate of layoffs was also near a record low in May.

That doesn't mean there's zero evidence of AI-related job losses, however.

Employment in white-collar "information jobs" - media, entertainment and high tech - have declined by 13% since the end of 2022. At least a small portion of these job losses likely spring from AI.

Yet for all the hype about AI, its influence so far has been small. The most telling detail, Glassdoor said: Employee satisfaction in occupations highly exposed to AI have declined only slightly.

The evidence suggests AI "has not broken through into having a broad impact on workers yet as businesses have been slow to actually implement" the new technology, according to Glassdoor.

-Jeffry Bartash

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June 24, 2026 14:21 ET (18:21 GMT)

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